Differential Achievement By Social Class (Education). Flashcards
What is a problem with the government’s data ?
The data isn’t collected in relation to social class.
Why is social class difficult to measure ?
Different people have different views / opinions on how social classes should be defined / measured.
What is a useful way to look at educational data ?
Free school meals (FSM).
What does FSM show ?
That there is a significant achievement gap between those eligible for FSM and those who aren’t.
What are higher household income pupils more likely to achieve / do ?
They are more likely to recieve 5 GCSE’s at high levels and take on more challenging GCSE subjects in comparison to those pupils that come from / are a part of lower income households.
Why were schools able to get higher / better results in GCSE’s ?
Because they were entering more lower level ability students for less challenging subjects.
What has lowering the achievement gap resulted in ?
Despite some progress believed to have been made, things are mainly getting worse for the less advantaged students.
What is the achievement gap ?
When one group of students does better / outperforms another group of students. (e.g. a group of middle class students doing better than a group of working class students)
What is an unpopular view among sociologists ?
That IQ is inherited genetically and therefore middle class students are more intelligent than working class students because they have more intelligent parents.
What did Jensen and Eysench study ?
They studied identical twins that were brought up in different environments but had similar IQ’s.
What did Jensen believe ?
That 80 percent of your IQ is inherited.
What is a main problem / flaw with IQ tests ?
It is debatable to how reliable the results are and the idea that people can improve their IQ through practicing for questions in the test, despite you appearing more intelligent then others you aren’t you are simply prepared with the correct knowledge.
What are some factors that can possibly affect IQ ?
Material deprivation, the environment that you live in, poor diet during pregnancy etc.
What did Douglas (1964) discover about intelligence ?
He found that a middle class student of “average” intelligence was more likely to pass tests that a working class student of “average” intelligence.
What do many sociologists believe are the two main factors that contribute to how well students do in education ?
In school (internal) factors or out of school (external factors).
What do sociologist also look at that can impact how well students do in education ?
material and cultural explanations. e.g. whether the differences in grades is due to working class students having less money to access resources than middle class students or whether they have different attitudes and values compared to middle class students.
What is a key out of school factor that might impact differential achievement by social class ?
Material deprivation.
What is material deprivation ?
inability to afford basic resources such as sufficient food, heating, clothing, educational resources (school uniform, school books, tutors etc).
What does / can material deprivation lead to ?
Poor educational performance due to a lack of resources and as a result can lead to underachievement.
What is one factor of poor educational achievement and what does it lead to ? (To do with physical health)
Poor diet / under nourishment can lead to underperformance in education, poor health, lack of attendance, missing out on learning etc.
What are some examples of important material factors ?
The internet, books, a quiet place to work etc.
What are working class pupils more likely to have to do in order to provide for their families than middle class pupils ?
Undertake employment alongside their education.
